Judah after Jewish exile in Babylon
Judah after Jewish exile in Babylon
Israel after the Exile in what is now Iraq
The scenes in Malachi probably took place in the Persian province of Yehud, which is translated Judah or Judea. It was roughly a 40-mile-wide square plug of ground (60 km), in territory that became known as Palestine. The Jewish province included Jerusalem and beyond, into what are now central parts of Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories. Jerusalem is where Jews sacrificed animals to God. And this was a topic Malachi covered with emotion and blunt words.Jerusalem Temple Mount
Jerusalem Temple Mount
Map of the Jerusalem Temple Mount, with Jericho and the Jordan River Valley in the distance.
Map of Elijah at Jesus’ Transfiguration
Map of Elijah at Jesus' Transfiguration
Map of Elijah at Jesus' Transfiguration. "Suddenly, Elijah and Moses appeared. They started talking with Jesus. ..Jesus changed into another form...His face started shining."
Bible writers say it happened on a mountain. But they don't say which one. There are several contenders.
Malachi predicted Elijah would come back to prepare the way for the LORD.
Elijah at Jesus' Transfiguration
Hezekiah’s staircase clock
Hezekiah's staircase clock
Hezekiah's stairway sundial
God moves the shadow backwards
King Hezekiah's staircase clock assured him of 15 more years of life. A few minutes earlier, the prophet Isaiah had told ailing Hezekiah to get ready to die. Really bad news from a prophet of God.Excerpt from 2 Kings 20:2-11:
Hezekiah turned away from Isaiah and faced the wall. He started praying to the LORD. “Please LORD, I have lived my life devoted to you with all my heart. I’ve behaved myself and done what you wanted.” Hezekiah sobbed in grief.On second thought: 15 more years
Isaiah hadn’t gotten any further than the middle of the palace courtyard before the LORD spoke to him. “Turn around,” the LORD said. “Go back to Hezekiah. Tell him the LORD, the God of your ancestor David has another message for him: I see you. I see the tears. I heard your words. I’m going to heal you. In three days you’ll be able to get up out of your bed and go to the Temple. And I’m adding 15 years to your life. I’m going to rescue the city, in honor of David. I’m not going to let the Assyrians have it.” Isaiah said, “Someone go and get a handful of figs. Then crush them into a paste and apply it to the king’s boil. He’ll get well then.”
God turns back Hezekiah's staircase clock
Hezekiah said, “Will the LORD give me a sign—evidence that he’ll heal me in three days and I’ll be able to go to the Temple?” 9Isaiah told the king, “Yes, he will. He’s going to make the shadow on the Ahaz Staircase Sundial go 10 steps forward or backward. Your choice.” Hezekiah said, “Well, it’s normal for the shadow to move forward on the staircase. Let it move backward 10 steps.” Isaiah talked to God in a prayer, and the LORD made the shadow on the Ahaz Staircase retreat 10 steps.
Where to find more Bible maps
The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."Dedicated Bible map search engine
But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.For more Bible features
Hezekiah’s walled city of Jerusalem
Hezekiah's walled city of Jerusalem
Hezekiah's Jerusalem
Assyrians at the gate
Excerpt of the story from 2 Kings 18
Hezekiah was almost 40 years old and into his 14th year as king of Judah when Assyrians invaded. Their king, Sennacherib, led his soldiers on a campaign to capture every walled city in Judah. Hezekiah sent a message of apology to Sennacherib, who was attacking one of Jerusalem’s outlying cities, Lachish. Hezekiah said, “I’m so sorry. I was wrong. Please stop the attacks. I’ll give you whatever it takes to end this.” Sennacherib demanded 11 tons of silver and a ton of gold.Hezekiah takes Temple money
Hezekiah emptied the Temple and palace treasuries of all their silver and sent it to the Assyrian king. For the gold, he had to strip the gold panels off the Temple doors and doorway. He sent that to the Assyrian king, too.Assyrian king wants it all
Assyrian Prime Minister Rabshakeh said, “Deliver this message to Hezekiah: The Great King —the king of Assyria—has a question for you. Who’s your daddy? Who’s going to save you now? Do you think mere words can stop a powerful army with a solid war strategy? You’ve rebelled against me. Who’s left to protect you now? You think your neighbor down south will save you? Don’t lean on Pharoah’s Egypt. Egypt is a cracked cane. If you lean on it, you’re going to get impaled."Where to find more Bible maps
The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."Dedicated Bible map search engine
But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.For more Bible features
Assyrian Empire 700s BC
Assyrian Empire 700s BC
Assyrian Empire after erasing Israel in 722 BC
Empire the size of Alaska
Assyria's empire during the low-numbered 700s BC was about the size of Mongolia—or Texas, California, and Colorado duct-taped together. Their warriors, infamous for impaling captives on stakes, dominated what is now known as the Middle East. Assyrians lived mainly in what is now northern Iraq. Nineveh was one of their capital cities—Mosul today.Assyrians dismantle Israel
The Assyrian king unleased a full-scale invasion of Israel. His army surrounded Israel’s capital city of Samaria in a siege that lasted three years. Then, in Hoshea’s ninth year as king, Assyrians broke through the defenses and captured Samaria. They took survivors back to Assyria and resettled them into immigrant communities.Assyrian exile Israelites
Assyrians scattered the Israelites into the towns of Halah, Habor, and Gozan by the river. They sent some to the distant Mede frontier.God was fed up with Israel's sin
Israel’s sin caused all of this, Bible writers said. The LORD warned Israel and Judah. He sent prophets and seers who could see the future. They all warned the people to stop sinning. They said, “Stop your evil behavior. Respect the laws God gave your ancestors. Obey them all, as the prophets and God’s people tell you to do.” That went nowhere. Those people were as stubborn and as suspicious of God as their ancestors were. They didn’t trust God.Israel broke their contract with God
They broke the contract with God that their ancestors had made—an agreement to obey his laws. Instead, they worshiped worthless idols, which turned them into a worthless nation. They adopted the customs of the people who used to live there even though God told them not to. And they abandoned God’s laws and made a new religion. They molded a pair of golden calf idols and a pole for worshiping Asherah. They worshiped gods of the sky and Baal as well. So God invoked the penalty clause. He booted them out of the homeland.Where to find more Bible maps
The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."Dedicated Bible map search engine
But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.For more Bible features
Israel, Judah capture land
Israel, Judah capture land
Land grab
Israel and Judah take land from Syria and Edom
Israel, Judah, and Moab are the big winners in a land grab. Each nation fought for control over their individual corners of the region.Assyria weakens Syria
Assyria attacks Syria, leaving it too weak to defend itself against an opportunist like Israel's King Jeroboam. Jeroboam II recovered territory Israel lost to Syria. He restores Israel’s border from Lebo-hamath in the north (about 50 miles/80 km northwest of Damascus), to the Dead Sea in the south. A prophet named Jonah, son of Amittai, said it would happen. Jonah came from the town of Gath-hepher.God helped make it happen
The LORD helped Jeroboam do these things because he saw how desperate the people had become. There was no one else willing to help them, free or slave. One more reason the LORD helped is because he promised not to let anyone erase them from the world. Those are the reasons he helped Jeroboam II, son of Jehoash.Edom and Judah gain land, too
Edom can't stop the young king of Judah, Amaziah, still in his early 20s and ambitious. After taking Edom, he challenges Israel to a battle. He loses, gets captured, and for punishment, Israel's soldiers knock down part of Jerusalem's city walls. Many citizens are taken as slaves.Moab's last stand
As for Moab, the combined armies of Judah and Israel can't break through the defenses of Moab's capital city, Kir-hareseth. Moab’s king saw he was losing the city. So, he took 700 swordsmen and tried to punch through Edom’s line and scatter the enemy. He failed and had to retreat.King sacrifices his son on city wall
Then he killed his oldest son, who would have succeeded him as king. He burned the body on top of the city wall as a sacrifice for everyone to see. Israel saw it, too. Angry and disgusted, they went home.Where to find more Bible maps
The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."Dedicated Bible map search engine
But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.For more Bible features
Israel and Judah grab land
Judah picks fight with Israel
Judah picks fight with Israel
Judah picks one fight too many
Judah crushes Edom then Israel crushes Judah
Judah's king Amaziah is just 25 years old when he takes the throne in Jerusalem. Eager for glory, he crushes Edom's army. Then full of himself, the king of Judah picks a fight with Israel.Edom, first battle
The king sent his soldiers to fight the neighboring nation of Edom. Judah’s army killed 10,000 people of Edom and overran the Edom city of Sela.Israel, bad choice
Amaziah sent Israel’s King Jehoash an invitation to a fight. The message said, “Let’s settle our differences king to king on the battlefield.” Jehoash sent his reply: “You defeated Edom and you’re feeling pretty good about yourself. Enjoy the glory of victory. Why risk the agony of defeat? If you go down, so does Judah.” Amaziah pressed, so Jehoash complied. The two Israelite armies fought on Judah’s tribal land at the town of Beth-shemesh.Agony of defeat
Judah lost the battle, and their soldiers raced home. Israel’s King Jehoash captured Judah’s King Amaziah, the son of King Jehoash and grandson of King Ahaziah. Israel’s King Jehoash marched into Jerusalem and tore down 200 yards of the city walls, from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. He raided treasuries of the Temple and the king’s palace. He took all the silver and gold, including the sacred utensils and furnishings in the Temple. And he kidnapped some citizens and took them back to his capital city of Samaria.Where to find more Bible maps
The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."Dedicated Bible map search engine
But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.For more Bible features
Judah picks a fight with Israel
King Jehu bows to Assyria
King Jehu bows to Assyria
Assyria on the rise
King Jehu on the record bowing to Assyria
In the ancient version of a photo op, King Jehu shows up chiseled into a limestone obelisk, bowing and paying tribute to Assyrian King Shalmaneser III (reigned about 858-824 BC).Assyria's war memorial
Assyrians set up the pillar in the courtyard of a major city the king was building: Kalhu. The obelisk became a monument to commemorate the king's 31 years of knocking nations in the head during his military campaigns. He was in the business of expanding the empire from its base in what is now northern Iraq. Babylonians would later rise to power in Iraq's southland, near the Persian Gulf. They would run the Assyrians out of their capital on Nineveh, in what is now Mosul.Jehu bowing, in the British Museum
The obelisk was rediscovered in 1846 and it went on on display in the British Museum, in London. Scholars were delighted to find archaeological evidence of an Israelite king. Evidence like that is rare.Where to find more Bible maps
The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."Dedicated Bible map search engine
But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.For more Bible features
Jehu bows to Assyria